Lack of electricity, supplies and equipment. In Marilog District, the lack of electricity is one of the main problems especially during the elections, according to Sustinez Botanas, a retired principal of Marahan West Elementary School in Sitio Marahan, Marilog. “During the counting, we could have finished it as early as 8 in the evening, but because we only use Petromax, we usually end at least around 10 in the evening,” Botanas said. One of the precincts had to suspend the counting for 10 minutes because they could not find a replacement light buld.
In Marilog, election inspectors in certain polling precincts complained about the late arrival of election paraphernalia, which should have arrived at least t5he day before. The materials arrived, through helicopters, at past noon of May 14, when a number of voters had already gone home and with less than three hours before the polling precincts were to close.
Unclear marks on the candidates’ list. For instance, the Comelec had put stars or asterisks after the names of candidates or partylist groups with pending disqualification case. The marking had an impact on voters who didn’t know any better. “There were only a few names with stars. I thought maybe there was something wrong with them,” said Menchie Brigole, 31, a housewife who said she avoided the names with the stars. The legends that would have explained these symbols to voters were too small to be noticed. “The board of election inspectors did not even orient us about these symbols,” Brigole said.
In Piedad Elementary School in Crossing Bayabas, Toril, the election inspectors and poll clerks could not explain the legends, saying that they did not receive any advice from the higher ups about the pending cases.
Disregard of election laws by parties and candidates. In many polling centers, workers for parties or candidates were seen distributing sample ballots, which is against the law. In Quezon Elementary School, a confrontation between the independent anti-fraud organization People’s Net and some officials of Barangay Quezon ensued when a Hugpong watcher complained that some barangay officials were giving out sample ballots at a waiting shed set up by the camp of Rep. Prospero Nograles.
Threats, violence and intimidation. The observers in Compostela Valley documented at least 20 cases victimizing supporters of partylist organizations and candidates, some of whom were tagged by the military as supporters of the New People’s Army.
“We heard a number of reports from local citizens in the areas we visited of a strong and often threatening military presence,” Jones said. The observers experienced this themselves when they had to go through military roadblocks and checkpoints in New Bataan and Pantukan for their mission. “A lot of local people in the area feel that a strong military presence is a threat to their voting freedom,” Jones, the Scottish observer, said.
Gill Boehringer, a delegate from Australia, conceded that while having a comprehensive view of an event as complex as a Philippine election is difficult, the two things that people should keep in mind are patterns and behaviors.
“What we know is that these are repeated through the years, in particular areas,” he said. “There is indeed a pattern of violation of election laws, generally. We can see patterns across the country.”
The observers agreed that, clearly, a lot of things need to be done to make elections in the Philippines a truly democratic exercise.
Observers from the Asian Network for Free Elections (Anfrel), who monitored the elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, proposed several steps that can be done:
* The problem is mostly about the implementation and law enforcement. Impunity for election offences must be addressed.
* The law on campaign finance should be enforced. Overspending must be discouraged, and the source of funding should be clear.
* In order to cut down the cost of campaigning, and enhance accountability and representation, senators could be elected by region rather than nationwide.
* The provision of the 1987 Constitution against political dynasties should be implemented by law to limit the number of politicians from same family or political clan.
* Comelec must be more professional and need to disqualify those who misuse their power.
* The local election should be separated from the national one, to make the process more simple and transparent.
* The law on electoral modernization should be implemented for counting to prepare for coming elections. (Cheryll D. Fiel, Jetty Ayop-Ohaylan, Marilou M. Aguirre, Krupska Lenina Apit, Joan Soco, Glory Pearl Dy and Melody Nicholas/davaotoday.com)
2007 Elections
